Desert Rose
by themostdarkestheart
Summary: Kiryu has come to "Crash Town" to die... but Yusei cannot let him go like this. Together with Aki he goes to rescue his friend once again. Will they succeed? Contains Aki/Yusei, Kiryu/Aki, Kiryu/Yusei
1. My Heart has become a desert

**My heart has become a desert**

I feel the dry wind which plays with my long hair and I look in the sundown which happens in front of my eyes; the yellow embers of the sun which seems to be lazy because her beams shine tiredly on me with their decreasing warmth. The day is hot but the nights ice-cold and it is almost as if it would want to remind me constantly what I once have been - only in a time-lapse photography in the day itself.

I know that once I was warm and good-naturfed myself, but then I turned colder, only to sometimes get as cold as the night itself, without any hope for a new day.

Perhaps there is still something for me?

No, which absurd thought.

I have loaded myself with so much guilt that there is nothing which could free me from that again, and even the death itself would not be enough.

I feel the heavy harmonica dangle around my neck and when I reach for it and lead it to my lips to breathe in and let the music have a free run. Gentle tones rise into the wind while I am using the opportunity to think again. As if there was anything else than thinking for me now.

But why am I like that?

I had always been somebody, who swings from one extreme to another and there apparently is no middle ground for me - I always be only the one or the other, either dead or alive, full of courage to face life or with the wish to die once more.

I only remember happier days on which I still had been carefree before the darkness sank into my heart to never disappear from this again. On the contrary, it stayed and it got stronger and stronger and I still feel its icy grip now, around my heart.

And I wonder quietly through my lips, through which I send my breath, will there ever be a solution for me? Is there anybody in this world who feels just the same as me?

Is there somebody, who can listen to this music and is capable of knowing how to interpret it, to see what it stands for? Is there someone who understands me?

How much have Crow, Jack and Yusei understood of me? How much has _she_ understood of me in the end, how much had we really in common?

Melancholy runs through me if I think back to the only people who have ever meant something to me and I have let all of them suffer infinite pains only because of a misunderstanding and furthermore I cannot do any penitence for this either.

But no, it could have come worse, I tell myself, but the voice in my head fights back, says that it still doesn't excuse my faults in no case.

But perhaps I would have been supposed to speak with you? But no, for what, if I know that you cannot forgive me. Especially you, Yusei, who has given everything for me, who has even risked your own life for me, just to save me - and it is you who I hated just because I couldn't understand? I haven't earned your kindness!!

And you Aki, who seem to be so like me. Often only a look sufficed and we immediatly knew what we wanted to tell each other with that. We had, as unbelievable as it might sound, made similiar experiences and wished for the very same: a place for us, somewhere in this rotting world. Is it so false if I, now that I have finally realized that it isn't worth it to look out for this place here... is it so false if I just don't want to be any longer?

Is the hope not promising that in death there might be a better place, one which promises me release? Or even if I should be condemned to the eternal damnation I wouldn't care since it only would be raked.

Do you think that I am only longing for death because I once had been a Dark Signer? Can it be that I want to experience this condition again, this "almost death"? Do you also feel like me, do you also wish to be as dead as I am?

I look up, only to remark that my steps have me carried unconsciously. I look at the houses in the distance in front of me and at the faded signpost at the entrance. "Welcome to crash Town!" is written there in no longer totally black letters and the signpost blows softly in the wind.

I look back in the sundown behind my now dull eyes. How had I come here, why have I decided to stay for the time being?

Everything had started in Japan and with my decision to see the world and to go away somewhere, whereever it would bring me to.

I don't know if it was some flight instinct or because out of my please of being really free now, because I really felt "free". The curse of the DarkSigners didn't lay on me any longer, I was alive again, and the mark on my face which brands me as valueless, was no hindrance for me any longer, but merely a muffled memory of painfgul things which I was able to replace with the pure joy that I felt.

_"Hey, wait Kiryu!" The girl with the crimson hair came running towards me after waving at me and she shamelessly jumped at me, so intese that it almost had torn us both to the ground. _

_"Wah, Aki, not so stormy!", I laughed and looked at her in love, before we exchanged a short kiss. We then looked us in the eyes for a long time while she was taking my hand elegantly into hers and simply dragged me away. "H-hey wait! To where are you dragging me to?", I exclaimed, but she only giggled. "Oh, I haven't seen you in ages, and now that I found you, you are not going anywhere without me!" "ah, so you don't care what I planned to do?", I asked her and she nodded before replying: "What could be so important? You cannot shop because you don't have money. You cannot have a date either because you don't know so many people to have an appointment. So, what you perhaps should still plan apart from these things...??" "Maybe I have something to get for Yusei or Jack?" I paused when I realized that it sounded like an extremely flimsy excuse. And Aki also knew this quite exactly. I wondered why she was so over-subtle, but then it didn't further surprise me because she simply was that way. _

_When she heard my sighing, she knew that she had won already. _

_"Ah come on, Kiryu!", she said, "now don't be like that!" "I haven't said no, at least not completely." "Why are you defending yourself like that then?" "Because it is more fun like that?" "Ah you.. all of that only because you want to get your satisfaction! It isn't fun for you if you don't meet any resistance, right?", she snorted playfully while dragging me away further on. And when she noticed that I gave way, she already wrapped her arms around my left arm, too, to cuddle up to me. _

_Something I hadn't expected so was the sudden warmth and it came over me like a gruesome feeling. _

_Perhaps it was the memory of when she had lost this warmth ?? This it had been completely my fault? _

_And still furthermore something else tormented me._

_I didn't know how to bring this across to her, how I shall tell her what I have planned to I wanted to stay no more, wanted to use my newly won liberty. _

_I stopped, and she also, only to look in my face astonished. _

_"Kiryu, what is the matter?" "Aki, I have to tell you something important. I...will no longer stay..." _

What did I really want to tell her with these words??

That I wanted to go away from her, only to see other places on this world, or that I wanted to go away in reality so that I could go into death?

Because I am here now, in a come down town called "Crash Town" of which it is said that only people who are finished with themselves and want to find the last quiet come here.

Would she be angry at me because of this? I know that she loves the life and she is the perfect example of the life itself. Flowers, plants, they sprout constantly and rise from the dead again, cannot find the slightest last quiet. But the life is also only an up and down for them. And I know for me that I don't want this any more. I would like to find my peace or at least pay for what I have done to innocent people; because it is one thing to choose a destiny oneself and one other to force a destiny upon another person as it has worked at so many.

And I have done this, Aki, also to you.

Just like to Yusei.

You have suffered because of me and you shall not do it any more. It suffices. It suffices. And, if it must be, then, then I escape you completely. To protect you from myselft, because I can never know when the next time will come in which I injure you. And when this time will come, will it only because I have a mental illness again? Or will it be because I just cannot decide for a livestyle or because I think of something of my past as unpardonable?

Yusei, you are like the starry sky over me. You regard all people around yourself as sacred and you love them from the fullest heart. You say that the connection that is between the people which touches you the most, you say that no human in the world is unnecessary, that all of them have a place. But I cannot agree with you in the last point. Because I think it would be better if some people would never be there. Say, you don't think either that it would be better if there had never been some dictators or rulers who have terrorized their population? And don't you, if there would be no more criminals, think either that we all then could finally live in peace?

Why don't you agree with me then if I would say that I count myself as one of these people? People who are unnecessary, just like I am unnecessary. Because see, am I not someone who had pulled other people into damage by his crimes?

And I suspect anyway you will never understand and you will always do everything, no matter what comes, to save me. I already suspect that I perhaps haven't seen you for the last time.

Perhaps this may be one more reason why I have come into this town which is so far away from you - so that you cannot help me because I don't need help and haven't earned it either.

Please let me die here and find an end!

My heart has become a desert.

The starry sky has disappeared when it was replaced by the haze of the hot midday sun and the flowers to my feet have stopped growing when one had withdrawn the water from them.

Yes, this is the place I would like to die on.

"Kiryu!"

I hear a voice calling after me, a voice known to me. To this the distant noise of running engines. Motorcycles? Yes, it is Ramon who calls me to himself.

I unimportantly turn to him but as I do this I already feel his hand on my shoulder.

"Kiryu-sama, we still wanted to go on a drink to the bar, do you come along?"

I don't answer but simply follow willingly; if I don't care what I do now, then it is easier, too, if I do it without thinking about it much.

Because if I think about it ...

then I feel only pain and an inexplicable longing deep within myself.


	2. Welcome to Crash Town

The sky over them was blue, so blue that it could take away the breath of one, especially together with the sight of desert in front of them. The rock formations partially looked like an artist had manufactured them, and maybe it really was an artist who was responsible for this - the nature as the highest artist. But if there was to complain something about in this scenery, then it was the sand which flew into the eyes as soon as one moved with more than telegraph speed forward.

And yet she had no idea how Yusei managed to move forward with the D-Wheel. Perhaps it would have been good, would she have taken her own one with her, but then again she still didn't feel courageously enough especially if she had only recently received her driver's license. Perhaps it was a pity about the experience? An experience which should rather be made by somebody who already drove a little longer than her according to Yusei.

She sighed openly as she clung a little bit more to his red D-Wheel while it increased its speed through the desert. Behind themself they let an enormous cloud of dust, what was, however, no wonder if the ground under them practically seemed to consist only of dust.

How long would they still need to get there? It could be that Yusei would have been much faster if she had stayed home, but she is stubborn and would have never let this chance slip by; especially when it was to find out the truth.

Which truth was behind the letter which had brought both her and Yusei here, to remote America?

She wanted to ask him how long it would last until they arrived there but she held back when she looked into the serious face of the young man who steered the D-Wheel.

Finally at the horizon a town came into view, however so far away that no-one could also recognize something already. Only using the silhouettes, perhaps one could have said that it was houses which were there in a wide distance.

The D-Wheel came to a standing abruptly and Aki Izayoi jumped down sweepingly while Yusei was rising thoughtfully as soon as she stood below on the safe ground. It didn't last long before her first question came: "Are you sure that we are right, Yusei?" "Only if this is really Crash Town", he replied calmly, "and this we will only know when we arrived there." "Yes, we have quite some distance still ahead, but..." Thoughtfully she looked down along herself before she reached for a sheet of paper and threw a worried look at it. "The letter doesn't say that it is him who is here. It could also very well be that he already moved away again. He canno-" But she was interrupted but a single motion of Yusei's hand. "No. He MUST be here. I know it. And I will help him. I won't leave him behind again." This she understood of course, but she still couldn't believe that it was all about him especially if he isn't mentioned by name in the letter which she now held in her hands.

Her look roamed over the short lines.

"Yusei-Fudo sama, I have heard of the friendship between you and him and write to you now this letter in due urgency. Please save him. I would like you to come and take him away of this town, because he otherwise could be killed if this goes on as it has up until now."

No name. No name of who exactly they should save. Only a small signature at the end of the letter, of someone called Barbara. An unknown Person. How could she know anything about the friendship between the two anyway? Where did she know Yusei's address from? And why thought this woman that he would die here?

She swallowed at the thought. Dying. He. He really cannot die, not now, not after everything seemed to turn round to the good.

She was torn out of the thoughts, as she noticed a hand on her shoulder and then she looked up to look into Yusei's deep blue eyes which seemed to look at her in a comforting way. "Do not worry", he calmed her in his nearly monotone voice, "we will find him." But his words could not put aside her doubts and he could recognize this in her distorted face. "If it is really him...",she replied bitterly whereupon Yusei only shook the head. "It must be him. But I understand if you.." "NO!", Aki shouted shortly before she caught herself again and continued calmly, "I would prefer if you would be wrong..." "I believe that. But even if you cannot really believe that you still came here with me. Which means that you still think, that a small part of you thinks that it might after all be Kiryu who needs our help." At his name her stomach seemed to move frantically together, so she tried to ignore the feeling. And yet she only whispered: "I don't understand what is the matter here ... how can it be that Kiryu is in danger? Why should he die here?" This didn't make it better.

When she expressed his name she felt as if something in her throat seemed to swell up even further. She didn't understand how it could develop like this. How it could be that Kiryu here now was in danger. Was it so wrong to let him go? But he had looked so happy when he had gone away to find himself and to see this world, now that he was free to do so if he only chose. She also would have done it like that if she had been in his place - no, she still searched for her "Ibasho", her place for herself, her place in this world.

She had a picture of him in front of her inner eye, how he looked like when he left her and when he came on the plane together with Bommer, with the words "Do not worry about me" on his smiling lips, but then this picture was shattered by a loud yell.

Yusei looked up frightened, asked quietly: "What was that?" before he sprinted away with Aki who kept following him until both of them came to a kind of cliff from which it steeply went to below. Under them they could hear the wild cries of men and see how they desperately tried to ran towards the cliff, pursued by another group of men who were rather dressed like cowboys. The loud persons all had prison clothing which was kept in a greenish blue tone on as well as collars.

"Come back! Hold them back, they mustn't escape from here!" "Help ! Someone help us!"

In their despair some of the prisoners pinched themselves to the bald stone wall as if in hope to be able to climb it up if they only tried hard enough to do so but they slipped down again and again. With an almost sadistic look on their faces their pursuers pulled out Dueldiscs, dropped cards on them and watched with a smile on their face as their prisoners turned under sudden pains when electric shockes ran through the collars. One of the men rummaged for a pendant from his trouser pocket and threw it up the cliff in a sweeping throw where it land not far away from Yusei and Aki who watched the whole scene.

"You don't really believe that you can escape us, right?" "No... please stop!" Again a card landed on the dueldisc and the men cried out in pain.

Yusei had seen enough. He has never been someone who endured it long to see someone being in pain, so it was nearly impossible for him not to give way to the impulse to help them.

"What are you doing?", he shouted down and Aki winced spontaneously. Why did the otherwise so quiet boy have to get loud in this situation and attract attention unnecessarily of all things?

"Yusei please ..." she started, however was already interrupted,by one of the men below which answered Yusei his question: "You see this anyway! We only try to capture these prisoners who tried to escape." With these words they went some steps forward to pick up the people lying on the ground and lifted them up to bring them back again. "Let them down!", Yusei insisted, only to feel Aki clinging to him and shaking her head but he ignored her and listened to the answer which came back from the men instead. "Unfortunately, we cannot do this ", they called in Yusei's direction, " but you yourself look like a Duelist. The town welcomes you and if you are good at dueling, you will have very much to do here." Then they turned round, laughing, while Yusei stared after them thoughtfully. Rattling of jewelry woke him when Aki lifted and looked at the pendant thoughtfully before she adressed Yusei and looked at him astonishedly. "Really Yusei... I do not understand why you must interfere.." "But I cannot watch when people are hurt..." "Still. You have heard them, these were prisoners. Criminals which probably must work for their crimes here! You don't want to tell me that you want to free criminals and let them go loose around the town, right?" The young man replied nothing at that especially if he saw that his companion is right with that. It was only logical, but nevertheless a feeling of discomfort didn't let him go, the feeling that something was not quite right here. His look fell on the pendant which Aki let dangle between the fingers of her left hand. It was a turquoise supporter, were three triangles under each other could be seen. The first two were of deep blue color while the last and lower one only was indicated.

"Why this man has thrown this thing up here?", Aki thought it over loudly and Yusei only said quietly: "I don't know" before he continued: "But all will become clear if we finally reach the town." "It is not far any more. One can see it from here already. We can also do the rest with your D-Wheel." With these words she took her seat on the vehicle and waited for Yusei to do this also on his D-Wheel.

In a few minutes the town already came in sight, too. Both of them could recognize the signpost now which was attached in some height over them. "Welcome to Crash Town" was written on it in black, a little faded letters. They drove into the town, only to notice that no human was on the streets if one could call these ways streets anyway, because they simply had been trudged into the sand. At the streets no signposts or street names could be recognized, anyway if one looked exactly one could recognize in the windows of the houses how people curiously looked at the newcomers behind curtains. The feeling didn't please Aki because it reminded her of the days in which she had been called a witch by others and was looked at as if she was a monster. It made her shiver to also meet a certain level of disapproval here, so she imperceptibly clung more narrowly to Yusei. In turn he had been lost in the question why the people here feel the need to hide and it only made his feeling grow stronger that something wasn't correct here after all.

They stopped at the biggest place of the town, in the middle of the intersection of two of the ways. One could see a store with flowers nearby on whose signpost "Classy Ass" was written. They stopped once more and when Aki got off, she looked thoughtfully on the letter, which she took out again. "I have no idea how we have to find the person who has written this letter here if we have no adress at all", she moaned, but she was interrupted by a loud manly laughter. Yusei immediately went and stood next to her and when they looked up, they could recognize three men who came toward them. How the three could suddenly appear here was baffling for the two but Yusei watched them nevertheless with watchful eyes.

"Oh, see see! Someone new has come into town!" "Seems to be quite and interesting boy if you ask me." "That may be, but what interests me more is his little companion!" The man who said the last sentence looked at Aki with a furtive look and she returned this look with an ice-cold one. "Ey, would you happen to want a drink in the next pub?", he asked her, but Yusei emerged and said: "Let her be." "Is she your girlfriend? Well well, do we want to clear that in a duel? Who wins goes out with the little cute girl!"

It was then that Yusei noticed the DuelDiscs which all three of them had strapped on their arms. Before he closed his eyes and replied: "I only duel with real duelists." "What?", all three men asked in a surprised tone of voice, before everyone of them split up and closed a circle around the two. Sealed. The young woman on Yusei's side suddenly wondered if it would be necessary to use her powers to save them.

"That was a nice insult", the thinnest of the men said, "but if you say things as these, it will bring you to hell even faster." "To hell?" "Yes, before you even know it, you will be surrounded by demons." "Just like now?", Aki shot back and the men only growled at her words.

Yusei raised his arm and wanted to activate his DuelDisc when suddenly a female voice shouted: "Stop it! The dueltime hasn't begun yet! This is a violation of the rules of Crash Town!"

From the entrance of the flower shop "Classy Ass" first a silhouette could be seen, before a woman came out of the shadows and apporached the men. She had a tanned skin, just like long and black wavy hair and just as dark eyes. In her arms she held a bouquet of flowers. Immediately, the men stopped in their actions, when the woman approached one of them and let the white bouquet fall into his arms before she stated: "And no do not interrupt the peace of these flowers any longer." Aki looked at her fascinated, when she approached them now and said: "I am sorry if they have frightened you off. Sometimes these cowboys do not know how to behave around a lady." "Do we know you?", Aki asked back and the woman nodded. "My name is Barbara." "Barbara? Then you have written this letter, right?", the crimson haired woman said before she extended and produced the letter in her hand. Barbara threw a look at it before she nodded. "Yes, I have written the letter. Though I rather thought that only Yusei would come here. He has not mentioned that he would bring someone with him." "That is because it was rather spontaneous of me to come with him." "So, you know him as well and want to help?", the black-haired woman asked when she was interrupted by one of the men: "Barbara, do you know these persons?" "Yes. I have invited them here, so they are my guests. And this is why I want to ask you to leave them be. They have a long journey behind them so they need to rest." And as if that has explained all, the man ran back to his companions and told them: "Let's go. These are guests of Barbara." Then they waved to the woman before they went their own way. Yusie and Aki looked at the woman confused before she indicated at her shop with her hand. "Just come in into the good old room. It is hot out here and inside we can have cold drinks and enough shadow. In addition, there are still things I want to discuss with you two."

Yusei and Aki looked into each others eyes hesitantly before they did what Barbara asked of them- they went inside, in the hope that she then would explain to them what she expected of them and what has happened. But especially that she would explain where Kiryu was.


	3. From Afar

"Just come into the good room. It is far too hot outside around the time of the day... and in addition I think that I should explain some things to you so ... " Barbara led them into the inside of the house at which at the entrance area the flower shop was already visible and which, just fittingly, seemed to be crammed full by plants of all kinds. One could recognize a table with a register which also was decorated with colored flowers. Aki was fascinated by this sight particularly since she had a very big weakness for plants. In turn this confirmed her first impression of Barbara which she had gained when she said to the two guys that they have met that they should keep quiet, because otherwise they would disturb the quiet of the plants.

But she wanted to not seem too impolite, so the young girl only had her eyes roaming around the room what the sun burned woman noticed. "Do you like it here?", she asked in a kind voice with a gentle smile. "Oh", produced Aki surprised, " Anyway, yes. I have always had a preference for flowers." "Then I can show you quite a few things later on, for there are many flowers that might not be that known in Japan for they are not locally met there... unless one keeps them as a house plant already... But say, I still haven't heard your name." "Oh yes, I am sorry. I am Aki Izayoi", she answered with a bow before Yusei almost immediately added in his quiet voice besides her: "And I am Yusei Fudo. Aki has come here as my companion."

"I understand. Well, I don't know whether we should come to the thing at once. The case is quite complicated and has a longer story also so I do not quite know where I shall begin ... " "We could do everything in the proper order", Yusei suggested, "we both for now desire to know if it is really all about the person we actually suspect already." "Well... come along with me for now. This is a topic for which I wouldn't like for several reasons that somebody listens in ", Barbara told in a mysterious intonation and waved to them both that they shall follow her. Yusei hesitated not one bit and followed her together with Aki into a back room which stood away from the salesroom with the flowers. There were a white table and white chairs on which they could sit down first.

When they all had found their place and Barbara came back with the tea which she served to them she also sat down and started talking: "It is all about a man named Kiryu Kyosuke."

Aki, who was holding the cup held in her hand, would have put down the cup almost too hard when trying to put it down and Yusei looked only thoughtfully as the name fell. "So", he said almost in a whisper. It was clear for the black-haired man as soon as he held the letter in his hands for the first time about whom it would all be but still it was a shock for him to hear that his theory has proven to be right. But, he exhorted himself, he knew actually nobody else he could want to save even if he knew that his impulse to help people was minted particularly.

"And he ... when he has come into this town?", he enquired, because he knew that he and his partner wouldn't come any further when they would not know the exact details about it. Even Aki held her breath and listened tensely.

"Well..", Barbara thought it over briefly before she answered now, " he happened to come into this town around three weeks ago for the first time. As most new citizens on the search for a place for himself. Then you must know, there are mountains here in the near which have proven to be very valuable because a certain ore can be flagged there which can be used for the making of D-Wheels or especially durable and light metal. At all events this ore has become a popular raw material here and that has made it into something desireable as if it would be gold - which has led to something like a second "gold-fever". But if it really was this "gold-fever" which has led Kiryu-sama to here or the other rumour, I am not so sure..." "Moment!", Aki fell into her word, "what is that other rumour all about?" "Well... it is about the town itself.. and about the conditions and laws which there are in this town. I can show to you at best at sundown what exactly I mean with that. Because this is the time which has been feared by most people of this town the most and at the same time awaited by them longingly. But especially longed for by those who wish an end for their pain," the black-haired woman spoke the last sentence with a special heaviness in the voice which primarily left a feeling of the discomfort within Aki. Hurt ... a word which already woke infinite memories in her, said alone, as well as the knowledge that it has agreed on such a big portion of her world and perhaps even still did that. And she knew that it had always had been that way with Kiryu, too. But ... which crazy reason would have been supposed to make him come here into this town which was cut off by the outside world so far? As far as she had been able to make a first impression to herself, there was nothing around here for miles, except the desert and these mountains which were so valuable according to Barbara. Was it just this distance which had seemed attractive to Kiryu?

"What has happened when Kiryu arrived here?", the crimson haired woman asked curiously and Barbara sipped at her teacup briefly before she gave an answer: "He joined one of the two here resident families." "Families?" "Yes. Since the discovery of the ore there has been a fight about who has the right to dismantle it and therefore also earn the whole money. In this fight two groups crystallized out who, along with their leaders, wanted to fight for the large money. The one group has formed around a man named Ramon, the second around a man named Marco. It is clear that both groups are in an eternal clinch and that the fight between them still is going on today." "Does that mean that there are street fights here?", Yusei asked and Barbara nodded: "Yes. But they are not simple street fights without rules as you may think, it is actually quite the contrary. The strict rules for one thing say that it is prohibited for a fight to break out during the day, the only time at which they are allowed is the sun-down. Before it has been agreed in this town to bring in these rules, the street fights escalated and it was not seldom that even deaths occured. But since this regulation was introduced, these incidences happen far more seldomly. It is not like there are no victims here at all now, but there are far less of them than in earlier times." "And Kiryu is tangled up into these street fights?" "Well, yes, he is. This is also the reason why I fear why he will fare badly if he doesn't get away from here very soon. And even more when I consider that there were victims already in the past ... if one then still considers the reputation of this town ... " "This isn't good", closed Yusei with a serious face and painted himself with the fingers of his hand under the chin. His companion didn't know what she should say on this. They had been able to get an approximate idea of the situation now but it did not quite suffice yet to fetch Kiryu out of here, that was sure.

Aki suddenly jumped from her chair and almost knocked this over because she did this so intensely: "I must know, where Kiryu stays !" "Aki, calm down!" "NO I CANNOT! If Kiryu is so dumb, then we must have to take him to reason again!", she yelled out unrestraunedly. "Aki, please restrain yourself!" Barbara only looked at the girl and the sudden outburst of rage, until Aki threw herself into the chair again, now sulking. " I don't understand why we cannot see Kiryu at once. I have to know what he has lost here so it would be the best to ask him directly, right?" "It is not that easy", Barbara interrupted her, " I have no clue for now where the two families reside, but it isn't too hard to find that out either, for example to find out at which pub they are residing during the evenings. Of course they go drink something from time to time," she added a smug smile when she stopped talking. "What is usual in western films", Aki answerted, with a bad plan already in the back of her head which Yusei seemed to suspect almost immediately. Her face already told him what he needed to know and as much as he knew her, it would not be possible to get her off of something she really wanted. He suspected that she would to track down Kiryu and convince him to turn back, also alone if necessary. Perhaps her impulsive procedure would cause problems, but Yusei knew on the other hand that Aki also had a relationship to Kiryu since they had been together as a couple once.

Even still more: they were alike in their personalities like one egg to the other; and even if their experiences were a little bit different, they caused in the inversion of an argument the very same result in both of them: Both had developed a tendency towards sado-masochism and had been anything but mentally stable for a while. And especially with Aki being one of the so called "psychic duelists" this was dangerous, because she could inflict real harm with her cards. In the past she had taken whole houses to the collapse with her strengths.

And Kiryu had blown up the headquarters of the Security in Satellite at that one time.

When these similiarities jumped Yusei into the eye, he suspected why Aki seemed to hang on Kiryu so very much but also why the two seemed to need him himself.

"Please, Aki, wonder well what you want to do ", Yusei tried to warn her, " it would be more than unwise to act too rashly. Let us first see these street fights firsthand." "Hmpf, okay." "I will take you to a safe place shortly before the sundown so that you can see the whole event from a safe distance.", Barbara explained to them before she added, " and we must certainly hide your D-Wheel, Yusei-kun. It is far too striking if the people would see that you have one, because that would show them that you are a duelist who could as well participate in the street fights. They would force you to join one of the two resident families just like the did with Kiryu-san." With that, the woman stood up and indicated Yusei to also do the same. Both followed her through the salesroom to outside, while Aki reamained there to look again at the plants.

Fortunately the D-Wheel still stood outside which Yusei had almost forgotten. He strode towards it and put a hand on the handle, which was boiling hot from the noon heat already. This caused him worries because he didn't know whether his mobile mat had grown of this hear at all in the longer run. It would be the most ideal if he would find a hiding-place as cool as possible in the shade to avoid a blowing out of the engine.

"Barbara, I would like to know whether perhaps you know a hiding-place where I can accommodate my D-Wheel so that it stands in the shade if possible, since otherwise I risk an overheating." "Yes. There are little caves somewhat outside the town which would offer enough place for your D-Wheel. It should be cool and shady enough in there." "Where exactly?" " In the direction of the south. Shortly before sundown I could accompany you there and show it to you, we then must hurry, though, to be able to see the fights from a safe distance." Yusei nodded: "Good. Much gratitude, Barbara." "Oh, it's nothing. But for now you can roll the D-Wheel intp the salesroom before we take it to the caves if it helps." Yusei did what Barbara suggested and rolled the D-Wheel inside when Aki curiously looked up of a plant. Barbara smiled at her when she saw that, and Aki blushed briefly before she turned the look towards the flower again.

"You like it?", the black-haired woman asked and Aki nodded. "What kind of flower is this?" She pointed as a flower of pink colour with five petals which on their edges had a darker colouring. "This is a desert rose, Adenium Obesum. Actually she is not an indigenous plant here but was naturalized here. She prospers well in semiaride climate and is very frost-tender, however, she can also be kept as a house-plant pretty well. However, one must treat this rose carefully, since this plant is poisonous." "So it is a rose ... and it is poisonous..." Aki sank again in the sight of the rose, as Yusei just came to them and added: "Roses are Aki's favourite flowers." "I see. But I would say rather the conventional ones, right?" "I think so. I have never seen a desert rose before ... but I like her really a lot" "If it is that way.." Barbara smiled at her before she looked round in the store and finally saw the flowerpot which she wanted to find. She took it down of the shelf, shut on Aki with that and pushed it into her arms. "This here is ... a little present to you", she said and as Aki looked down at it she noticed that Barbara had given her a flowerpot with desert roses. She was speechless at first, but then strangled a thank-you out anyway.

"Don't mention it! People aren't always found who value the flowers as much as this, especially in this area..." "well, there aren't also much who can claim that they have a flowershop around here too. One certainly needs a fluent water source for it, right?"

"But yes. We have water flowing here from one of the nearby streams from near the mountain. There is also enough water flowing underneath us right now, in the earth, but each of us must still try to save as much water as possible just in case that there might be no water at all, which can especially happen during the hot summer." "And you have many customers?" "Oh well, it is enough to live, so yeah..." Barbara gave a laugh briefly before she looked at the cuckoo clock which was fastened to the wall above the flower shelves, she then sighed briefly. "It still lasts for a whole while before the sundown comes. I could show you around just as well in the town if you want, but then again I wouldn't like to risk in turn that you get an overheating. Not many who come here can get used to the climate so fast, and the pubs are as empty during the day as the rest of the town is, safe for the drunken cowboys who have to still sleep off their high in there. No, it would really be better if you stay here for now." "Oh man...", Aki simply sunk on the nearest chair, "I don't understand how you want to talk the time round so fast in the wild west. It still lasts until sundown eternally." "One gets used to it. Most residents of this town only really blossom out in the darkness of the night. Our day is different than in other towns. We are lazy during the day because one cannot make much in the heat of the day. At night it is cool enough so that we can do whatever we want then. Therefore we are rather night persons."

Yusei braced himself against the D-Wheel which they tried to roll up the hills about which Barbara had said that they would offer a good protection for it. The fading day provided for a breathtaking look but they didn't have much time for this to simultaneously admire this view and to look for a suitable hiding-place for the D-Wheel and then still to come to town in time if they stop here for some time.

They had fully and completely to rely on Barbara especially in an area in which they couldn't get around alone, with laws which they didn't know about. And it should prove that these laws were especially harsh ones.

"Yusei, do you see it? These are already the caves!" Barbara extended her arm forwards and showed with her forefinger what she meant and Yusei already could see it over there. Smaller rockes extended before them, in which something like small cavities could be recognized. Now it was only necessary to find a suitable place to put the D-Wheel in so that the cave wall wouldn't collapse over it.

"What do you think, which one of them is stable enough?" "You can take an arbitrary one. As far as I know, no one of them has ever collapsed here if these were your fears." The young man took his motorcycle and rolled it carfeully into one of the rock niches before he took one, two steps back to be able to judge the situation. Would no-one really notice it that a D-Wheel is stored here? Would nobody stop here to steal it away? Unfortunately, he came to the end that it would not quite suffice yet but then he felt how Barbara typed him on the shoulder and held him a blade of grass into the face. "Perhaps this can help?", she asked with a squinted eye and a smile in her face while Yusei thoughtfully took the blade of grass from her hand, strode to his D-Wheel and put it there. "However we need far more of than just that..", the black-haired woman thought aloud before she waved to Yusei where he could take more plants for the disguise.

While the two were picking the plants up into their arms, they still actually had the opportunity to talk a little about the town.

"What does actually happen at sundown exactly?" "Well, as I said, it is the time which the people of this town fear the most - but not the people who do not have a clue about dueling, it is the duelists who fear it." She looked at Yusei significantly before she continued "As soon as the sun touches the ground, a duel starts at which the loser of the duel is sent into the desert for punishment. Or, to be more exactly, the loser is sent to the mountains in which the ore is extracted." "Oh", Yusei made who understood immediately, but before he could ask again, Barbara enlightened him: "The duel is between the two resident families only, just like I have already mentioned before. Each of them is sending one duelist into the duel and who wins wins an additional worker for his mine." Now the young man understood who the men were that he and Aki have seen at the beginning of their stay here - it weren't any criminal at all, just as Aki had assumed, but duelists who have lost their fights and came into this slavery. Except for the fact that he felt sorry for not having done anything for them, he now could feel an icecold shiver run down his spine when he understood the danger Kiryu was really in. "Do you mean that Kiryu belongs to one of the families here, is dueling at sundown and risks to be enslaved if he loses?" The woman nodded slowly. "But you will understand everything better if you have seen this fight once. We have to go back to town and look for a good place for watching." "Good. Let's go back to Aki first", Yusei agreed and set for going before Barbara packed and held back him at the elbow. "Wait for a moment, Yusei. I want to say that it would be better if you wouldn't tell everything that I have told you not to Aki as well. In addition, I understand that it will be necessary to act soon if you want to save Kiryu. If the time comes, I would like to make the necessary plan for that alone with you." "Why should I keep her out of this?" "To protect her. I am assuming that she is a duelist too, right? They do not back away just because she is of the oppostie gender, Yusei. If they find out that she is a duelist, then they... I only want to do that to protect her from unneeded dangers." Yusei nodded. "Good, I understand that." He felt how the hand of Barbara glided of his elbow after he had said this. Then they both got on the way back to town.

Aki already waited for them when they came to the flower store "Classy ass" and Barbara waved her over. The sun almost already touched the ground which meant the beginning of the fight, therefore they had to hurry and find a good and sure vantage point.

"It is ready soon. Follow me." Aki looked at her only questioningly and followed them when Yusei nodded at her.

Together they approached the buildings opposite, when they noticed that around them the doors of the buildings opened and people hesitantly looked out before they came out to to collect on the street. Barbara, Aki and Yusei just reached the door of a house with which the black-haired woman tampered when Aki remarked that some of the people seemed to hold cameras in their hands. She said contemptuously, "A fight lies ahead and they want to watch it like some sports event?" The creaking of the old wood door which just opened provided a soundtrack for what Barbara answered her after she kept that door open for her two companions: "This is completely normal here. Many people always watch the fights since it is quite the only thrilling event here. But now come in. We will watch the fight from above." "From above?" "Yes, from the roof. There, nobody will see us, and we still will have everything within our sight, because the families will hold their fight directly under us. Then I can explain a bit better what is going on here and you will hopefully understand why I have called you here."

They climbed up the stairs when they already heard the loud noise of engines outside. Yusei stopped on a step, being surprised briefly whether it can be that it also was D-Wheels but then he continued his way.

When the three then finally arrived on the roof and Barbara showed them the fitting place for the observation with a hint, they strode toward to this and ventured a look to below - of course while looking out not too far out to not be seen themselves because the roof wasn't that high up from the ground. They saw motorcycle arriving from the two sides of the main street. A group of motorcycles came from the left and as well from the right. Aki noticed now why the observation point was so good because they were on the building that was in the middle of the intersection of the biggest streets. "Do you see the people on the motorcycles? Those with the red cloths around her neck are a member of the Marco family, with their head being Marco." They saw how an a little gawky type got off and took off his helmet in front of his vehicle to look in the round nastily. On his face yellow markers could be seen on the right and on the left of his oversized forehead, exactly of the same type like also Yusei or Kiryu had on their faces, which means that this person has offences at the expense. "The people on the other side belong to the Ramon group." The next climbed off his motorcycle and also took his helmet off. A person appeared, with pale skin and charcoal-gray hair which were a little longer behind. On the left side of his face a strand of black hair fell in and unlike Marco, he also bore no marking at all. His outfit consisted of a black, short coat. Barbara pointed at him briefly before she said: "And this there is Ramon, head of the family." "So, this are the two groups who fight here for the crown?", Aki asked, "how does such a fight take place exactly then?" "Just look, you will get everything then."

Marco then started to speak, with his look on the behind. "Sensei, when you defeat this guy, I will give you whatever you desire as your reward." At these words, a tall brawny guy got up immediately from the crowd behind Marco and asked back: "Who is the guy who wants to be taught a lesson from me?" He strode toward the free area between the two parties without hesitating and had his head cracked between the shoulders loudly. Ramon giggled only quietly into himself. "Everybody talks flashily before a fight starts ", he said, " but only a few know that these few precious words could be their very last ones." A loud roaring laughter appeared behind him when he ended and the brawny type which waited for his opponent bared only his teeth. At all events one thing was certain for the persons standing around as well as the persons of the roof: Ramon seemed to be self-assured for himself. Aki enquired with Barbara: "Why is Ramon so self-confident?" "Well, the Ramon group has got a worthy member to it ... up till now this one has provided a lucky streak to be not knocked down because up till now he hasn't lost any single duel. The family of Marco is rather shattered and hopes for the new one again and again, that they will defeat the member of the Ramon family definitely ." "And this member is?" "Just look." Barbara hardly said this when a soft melody already penetrated into their ears and Ramon called into the sundown: "Sensei, we leave this to you!" Everyone turned their looks expectantly in the day going down when the volume of the melody seemed to swell up. One could hear now that it was the game of a harmonica; it was a gentle, a sad melody which seemed to trigger something within Aki because she could feel how her heart beat faster upon hearing this. That couldn't be, right? Kiryu?

One could see how a dark silhouette stood out opposite the sunbeams. The dark shadow on the ground had inferred on a person in a long coat which easily blew in the wind train. One also could recognize that this person carried long hair.

Yusei breathed in sharply, when he recognized who that was, and Aki also held her breath when she recognized him.

It was Kiryu Kyosuke, who strode towards them, with a silver harmonica at his lips. He was the one playing the music when he came towards the fight area.

Kiryu had changed strongly within the six months of his absence: He had long ice blue hair now which reached him to under the shoulder blades; he wore a gray shirt, above it a black coat; The harmonica that he played apparently hung at a cord around his neck.

Kiryu played the last notes of his piece when he turned to his opponent; he stopped and stared at him out of empty eyes.

"Kiryu!", Yusei only mumbled into himself while Aki was pinching herself unconsciously into the banisters, with a thousand questions in her mind. Why was Kiryu here? How got he into the group of Ramon? How had he been able to change so much?

"The fight time starts now", Barbara mumbled in a tone as if she wouldn't have noticed the tension of the two, "and tonight one of them will disappear." "What do you mean?", Aki murmured excitedly and angry. "What is going on here?" Yusei decided to seize the word before Aki could get too loud and to also save Barbara some explanantions: "Kiryu apparently belongs to the group of Ramon and duels at sundown. Here it is usual that the one who loses the duel will be sent away to work in the mines of the mountains. If Kiryu loses here, then.." "But.. Kiryu has won until now, right?" Aki looked at Barbara helplessly who nodded. "But it can happen that sometime someone might come who may be able to beat him. And if that happens, then he will disappear into the mines and will be enslaved there. And nobody who has ever come there also got away from there", Barbara brought to attention, "and this is the reason why I called you for help. If this keeps going on, it won't take long for something to happen to Kiryu-san." "And nobody has ever returned from there?" Yusei asked quietly and with a pained look on his face before the opposite person answered him: "No, nobody yet. There is also the rumour that there have been some deaths. It seems that the mine around there is not safe enough because it can come to collapses there, at least this suggests why they are always on the lookout for new possible workers. It is another point that this town settles almost all matters with duels. Who is successful can get very rich quickly here, which is why duelists also come here to hunt for their dream of immense wealth. But if you lose..."

"Then..", Yusei attached, but Barbara only nodded and they all brought their attention to the fight which played out below them.

One suddenly could hear the noise which came from a horse patter with a car on which two men sat. Both of them were clothed in black with a black hat on the head. Moreover, the smaller one of them wore sunglasses and his face was distorted to a strange smile and he was also pale. One could see them to be gravediggers of some sort, particularly since they had deposited a black casket on the car behind. When Aki saw the two men she felt her fear flash across. Would someone die here on the spot already and not just in the mines during an accident? Why else should these shadowy people come here?

"Barbara, what men are these two?", she asked. "These are the gravediggers of Crashtown, and they are also responsible for the observation of the rules so that they are kept by everyone. They also take care that the loser of the duel is brought to work in the mines by them. They tie up the loser for this and tow him in the casket." "But they take them out again later, right?", the girl enquired with a face white as chalk and Barbara nodded positively. "But now watch." The woman didn't need to say it again, because Aki turned to the scene immediately again, caught too much in the thoughts that have gotten ahold of her now. And she wasn't alone with that, because below them all sorts of people already assembled around the two duelists. A little boy who had dark short hair and who wore a green vest came from the crowd and gave an admiring look to Kiryu when he saw him in front of him.

Then there was silence. No-one moved a milimeter but were stiffened as if waiting for something determined eagerly. Ramon and Marco had taken an eased attitude while Kiryu's opponent seemed strained. The men on the car looked together with the residents of the town in the direction of the sundown and as Aki and Yusei followed their looks, Babara added: "The duel starts when the sun touches the horizon." Just when she completed the sentence, the residents all shouted "DUEL!" and Kiryu and the man opposite him both pulled out their dueldiscs. These had the form of pistols which Aki has noticed just now.

In a fast movement Kiryu drew his "pistol", fastened it to his left arm, pulled out five cards from his deck and did all of that way faster than the opposite man could have dared to dream. He only hissed furiously as he noticed that he had been too slow. "I start. My turn," Kiryu said in a monotonous voice for the first time. He drew a card from his deck and looked at it with emptry eyes briefly bevor he summoned a monster. "I summon Infernity Mirage in attack mode (ATK 0). I set a card, and... end my turn."

"Kiryu behaves strangely ... ", Yusei mumbled only quietly, with a look at his old friend "one can see that the duelist within him is gone." "That's true. I have never seen him like that before. It seems as if he is a completely different person", Aki agreed before she mumbled still more quietly: "What has he only turned into ...?"

Barbara said: "It is true that he seems to have no more will: He seems to have come to this town as a man looking for a place to die." Aki tore up her eyes at these words and suddenly felt attacked by Barbara personally even if she knew exactly that it wasn't actually about her. But why did it hurt her so much to see Kiryu again like this? To hear that he supposedly wants to die. That he WANTS to be taken to the mines. Who would WANT that? Only someone crazy. No. She knew the answer, because she herself was like that sometimes. Only Kiryu. A crazy person, like she was.

Quiet sobs escaped her throat which she muffled with her hand when the dumpling had got too big in her neck to still longer keep it. Yusei immediately strode toward Aki, leant down to her and stroked her on the back soothingly to calm her down before resting his hands on her shoulder. "Ssshh, Aki.. everything will get alright again..." She didn't reply to that, to lost in her own thoughts. She didn't understand him any more. Out of all things it was Kiryu who she didn't understand any more, the man with whom she was in love. The one who was her night rose. The one who seemed to recover after everything that has happened to him. The one who promised to her to return to her as soon as he had seen the world. And she had let him go because she had believed him.

Her mourning changed itself into rage and furious determination suddenly. So he wanted to die here? Why actually not in a faster way? Why couldn't he shoot or hang himself? Well, if she would get him into the fingers, then she could execute that for him without problems for what he seemed to be too much of a coward.

And she knew suddenly that she had to make herself on the search for the truth soon. She had to see Kiryu again alone and in private to be able to understand.

One of her hands went into the one from Yusei when she looked up to him. She assured him with a steady voice "I am well, Yusei." and he nodded without enquiring further. Aki was very grateful to him for it that he didn't do this and had to smile. He was really an obliging type. Sometimes she didn't know what she would do without him.

The tall man cried "It is my turn!" and drew a card of his deck before he had a quick look at it and immediately dropped a monster card on his duel disc. "I summon Regal Keeper in attack mode (ATK 1300). Then I play "Hand Obliteration". Through the effect of this magic card, both players throw off their hands and we go over the same number of cards from our deck ." The man laughed badly briefly, before he thought Regal Keeper has the feect to deal the opponent 1000 damage for each card that he has to put back to his deck if they were drawn outside the Draw phase and I immediately start with 1000 life points damage.  
But Kiryu only raised his hand. "I activate my trap card " Full Blast ". This card sends all my hand cards to the cemetery and causes the opponent 200 points damage for each of them. Looks like I was faster in putting my cards aside." Four fireballs formed themselves and rushed at the man who lost 800 life points after that. He went over the same number of cards he had put on the cemetery from his deck afterwards, before Kiryu explained in his monotonous voice: "There are no cards in my hand any more, thus "Hand Obliteration has no effect on me."

"Handless!" Yusei said, surprised to see that Kiryu used the same tactic as from his time as a DarkSigner, "his ultimate combo!"  
"If my hand is on zero, I can summon two other Infernity monsters through throwing "Infernity Mirage" into the cemetery. Come, Infernity Destroyer, Infernity Demon ! " Two demon similar monsters appeared on the field and Kiryu's opponent cursed. "Damn! My monster cannot reach the attack points of these two! I end my turn!" "My turn, Draw!" Kiryu drew the next card. "I activate "Infernity Burst" from my hand. For every Infernity monster in my field the opponent 800 gets points damage." An attack met his opponent whose life points fell back to 1600 after that. "As next "Infernity Destroyer" attacks "Regal Keeper"!"  
The life points fell back to 600 now. Yusei and Aki were astonished about how well Kiryu still dueled even though Kiryu has lost the duelist in himself according to Yusei. Not long and he will have won this duel after a few more turns. And he should prove that he could decide this duel to his favour even in this round.  
"If my hand is at zero, and when "Infernity Destroyer" destroys a monster successfully, then additional 1600 LP damage is dealt to my opponent."  
The life points of the man stood out on zero as he tore up his eyes doubtingly and said astonishedly: "So this is the Handless combo ..." A loud neighing woke him from his numbness and he looked up horrifiedly only to see that the two men with the black casket had pulled out a lasso. He tried to escape by taking the legs into his hand but the car led by the smaller of the two men already got into movement and pursued him.  
There was no escape. He came not even a couple of meters far when the lasso already coiled around him and he was dragged on the ground with a blow. He was dragged about this briefly before he was raised and shut in the black casket under his helpless cries. The car stopped not once all the time, but put his way into the mountains with the ores.  
Kiryu only stood there motionlessly, slowly took his pistol-shaped dueldisc and lovered it into the mount at his trousers again. As soon as he had it inside, the crowd behind him broke into a great jubilation and a stone seem to fall from Yusei's and Aki's hearts. Everywhere, relief came across, but especially at the group of Ramon, which had got victorious by Kiryu once again.  
"Thank you very much. You are very good at dueling as usual, but your shoes look a bit destroyed... in any case, this was a good job, Sensei. This makes 50 victories." "Ramon, you..! I swear, the next it will be you and this guy who will be sent to the mountains!" "Pfft, good luck with that!", Ramon laughed and waved to his retinue, that they would burst now; both parties went to their motorcycles and wanted to disappear.  
This was the point at which Yusei couldn't hold back any more. He sprang up to his feet, closely followed by Aki who also didn't want to let this chance slip by to get Kiryu and talk with him alone for a while.  
When they ran out of the building they already saw the motorcycles leaving. If he wouldn't call his name now, then ... therefore Yusei called as loudly as he could in the hope to drown the resounding sound of an engine.

"KIRYU!"  
And obviously it worked because he stopped and turned over his head slightly.  
Everything in Kiryu stiffened when he discerned Yusei out of the corner of his eye and also saw how a person stood behind him. Could it be? Yusei and ... Aki? No. No, they couldn't be here. Not when he has tried to flee from them as far as possible to protect them from himself. He turned the head again and drove off as if nothing has been.  
"Kiryu! Why don't you answer me!" Yusei cried while Aki only remained silent until Barbara reached them both. Silently they watched as Kiryu got smaller in the distance and finally disappeared.  
Aki clenched her hands to fists while Yusei was noticing that it soon would become time to act. Otherwise it would be too late for Kiryu. And he would do the last he could to save his friend, whatever it might cost. Not only for Kiryu, but also for Aki because he knew how important this was for her.  
They said nothing for a while before Barbara seized the word. "We have to go back again now. The night in the desert is very cold usually and ... " "Barbara", it came with a steady voice from Aki , " where does the group of Ramon stay at the moment now?" "In the near of the mountain they have something like a headquarters to oversee the workers, but recently they pretty often come over to "Crash Town". It can very well be that they come back here later on." "Can you give me a detailed description of the localities? Where exactly Kiryu usually stays?" Yusei stared at Aki horrified. "Aki, you don't plan to.." "But Yusei. You know exactly that I have come here to try to save him as well, like you. I will try what is possible for me, just as you do." Yusei said nothing, he only nodded and exhorted Aki for safety reasons. "However, you have to be careful." "No worries, I can take care of myself." "Well, I can help you too", Barbara said with a mischievous smile and no-one noticed how her look became darker because her two companions had turned their backs on her as they headed back.


	4. Nightly Visit

"Hahaha !" "Yeah, give me another can of beer here, now do that!" "Here, catch!"

It was very loud in the pub when the group of people which was in it slowly but surely celebrated itself into a higher party-mood.

Kiryu looked only dumbly through the round, lost in thought while he practically was celebrated by the others for his renewed victory even if it anything but suited him fine. He didn't want to cause a great commotion because there was nothing festive that they would have to celebrate. Well, he has won today's fight, but sometime ... furthermore they unconsciously celebrated the fact that a human life has been taken to danger in the mines and that it won't get out of it that fast again.

"Jo, Sensei! How about a drink?"

Ramon came to him to the table with two high glasses of beer and sat down opposite him.

Kiryu replied nothing but looked at him only with a look as if Ramon wouldn't exist at all.

"You have done really good work. If we win further more like this, it won't take long until the mountain with the complete mine plant really will be ours." Laughing, the black-haired knocked the ice blue haired-one on the shoulder, which still didn't react to it. He took the glass of beer away from Ramon without saying a word and instead drank it empty in one sip. When Ramon saw this he reached for the beer bottle in the near of Kiryu to pour a bit more into his glass, while he said: "Let me thank you." He has just poured a little bit of the golden brown liquid into the glass when Kiryu already just pressed his arms on the table, got up and looked at him with an impolite look.

Was it because Ramon was so exaggeratedly pleased that it disturbed him so much? Or did it lie in that Ramon took it for so granted that Kiryu would win continually? Did the guy think in all seriousness that it will remain that way for ever?

It wasn't exactly rage that Kiryu felt in this moment, it was rather a preliminary stage of it, because since he had come to this place he hadn't been able to feel nothing intense any more for quite some time. It was as if everything had faded in him and he got too incompetent to still longer be aware of intense and deeper feelings. He was aware of everything only like by a veil and this also showed to others in his surroundings. The people in the group of Ramon said of Kiryu that he wasn't social enough, that he seemed ice-cold which was why they prefered to keeo a distance to him. It was actually only Ramon who tried to come near him because he wanted to hold the contact to his "trump-card" and to inform him of his plans. Perhaps there was more which Ramon also wanted of him, at all events Kiryu had the creeping idea that the dark-haired man had a far bigger interest in him than only at a platonic or business level. The looks that he sometimes threw at him allowed something more of an interpreation into this direction.

Ramon looked at Kiryu confused when this man stared at him with this empty look. Almost weird but primarily inaccessible. Nobody of the two spoke a word until Kiryu broke the silence with his monotonous voice: "I also can be defeated any time. I hope this is clear to you." And with this one he turned round, left the bar and with that left a Ramon who was looking taken aback with a half-filled beer bottle in his hand.

He took a sip from the bottle bevor he just murmured: "It would be funnier if he would be a little bit more social." One of the boys of his groupf who was sitting at the bar looked in the direction of the door which Kiryu had left through before a few moments ago before he turned his look towards Ramon again, "Boss, you must admit that he IS right. It really can happen that he loses especially when you think about that his tactics is not exactly the safest one. The way he fights, with the Zero-Hand-Combo...this is shiny insanity. If this combo malfunctions just one time, with the opponent drawing a good card while Kiryu-sensei doesn't... this can only backfire. Only someone who hasn't anything to lose anymore would duel like that." Ramon let the words sink in, drank his own glass empty before he declared himself thoughtfully: "This may be ... but although you are right ... it is the only thing which I don't like about Kiryu-sensei."

This was correct. It could absolutely be that his trump held out no longer. But even the thought that the danger that Kiryu could lose and be sent into the mines was still there, he simply didn't want to believe that he could lose. Even though the lifeless look of his charges betrayed something, a longing for something which hasn't come true yet. Ramon didn't understand that and for now, he also couldn't. How could someone who looked like someone who didn't want to do anything more but die prove to be such an incredible fighter? Why was Kiryu so well in what he did even though he lacked his fire? And as he touched these thoughts in his mind, he suddenly knew why he had such an interest in Kiryu. Because wasn't it a sign that a fire seethed deeply below this layer from ice which inspired him, Ramon, then, in which one he wanted to participate? If someone like Kiryu can fight when he is on the ground, isn't it that which makes him so damn attactive?

What did he really want of him? Could he seriously hope that he gets the mine with his help and outdoes his rival Marco once and for all with that? And yet he couldn't differently but to believe in it. Kiryu's strenght didn't leave Ramon in any doubt that he will continue to win even after the fifty wins that he already had gained and that he will continue to win until the final end is reached. Because even if it is risky ... Kiryu will already know what he to do.

Before he devoted himself to the pleasure, he went back to his group and with a gentle smile on the face he drank the rest of the beer.

His ice blue hair blew in the wind of the dark night as he turned round and let his look rest on the pub he had just left.

Not that Ramon would disturb him ... it was something else which didn't let him rest any more ... the sight of Yusei which he could catch briefly when he looked at behind sedentarily in the sundown on the motorcycle. The short sight of Aki which seemed to stand a little behind Yusei. If it really was her which he couldn't say for sure, because it could have been a halluscination all the same. Perhaps this had been a desperate wishful thinking of him? Perhaps he secretly wanted that she was here? Perhaps not only she but also Yusei? Perhaps he wanted them both here because he wanted to ask them for pardon. But this here was the desert so hallucinations were nothing unusual here - they were quite common at noon heat and sometimes they happened at sundown, when the rest of hhot air which had accumulated over the course of the day blew up. Now, this must be what has happened. The two weren't really here. He only had imagined it or nothing else. His subconscious had played him a trick. Like so very often.

If he was quite alone, a feeling of melancholy came over him.

Sometimes it was unbearable to be alone because the memories which he wanted to replace then came up again.

And now, with the putative appearing of Aki and Yusei he wasn't able to supress them any more. But they at least accepted another direction.

He remembered the two again. Even if it left a slack feeling in him, it was still better than the bare horror with which he was filled if he thought back of his time as a Dark Signer.

He went a couple of steps out to the desert completely lost in thought, left the pub visibly until he came to the place to which he usually went to. It was a hill in the desert on which a couple of scanty plants grew. One had a good view of the surrounding mountains from here.

He quietly sat down when he gripped his hand after the harmonica around his neck and let it dangle briefly while he thought. It seemed almost dull in the darkness of the night.

He raised it to the lips and played his melody.

His own melody.

Gentle and melancholy.

The winds bore the music far into the night. It was like cleaning to deal alone with himself. Having nobody else around himself.

His thoughts went back to Yusei first. How he has called his name. And how he held Kiryu in his arms in a moment of his sinful existence.

Then to Aki. How he has left her. As he promised her to come back so that she would not be hurt and would not come onto the thought he would leave her because he didn't love her any more. Because it wasn't correct. He still loved her but he knew he was a danger for her even if she could excellently defend herself if it would become necessary. However, this changed nothing at the fact that it would be easy to kill her perhaps anyway at a moment of the inattentiveness. People are fragile and so easily to destroy, nobody knew this as well as him. You simply draw a weapon, keep her to the head and pull the trigger. Or you take a highly effective poison. You simply instil it into the person who shall die and the chemical reactions of his body already would adapt and the death occur. And there were even more methods than these.

You also could use something like magic. Withdrawing their souls from them and sacrificing them to your Earthbound God because you think that revenge is the only way.

Exactly what he had done. For what he couldn't forgive himself.

While the tones of his music seemed to play themselves he lost himself in his past.

He saw a picture of Ccapac Apu in front of his inner eyes. Like the tall creature piled itself up in front of everyon and left great damage.

Why he remembered it? Why wasn't it allowed to him to simply forget all of this and to live on normally? But no, he already understood why it was like this. Someone who has so many lifes on the conscience as he had no right to for something like that. If only Yusei also would understand this...

But something woke him from his thoughts. Apruptly, the music of his harmonica also stopped when he turned his head to look to behind and he discovered a little boy. He wore brown boots, deep blue trousers, as well as a dark green vest over his pullovers. He looked at Kiryu with a smile in his face. He also had a darker, sun burned skin and even darker short hair as most people in this town.

Kiryu hadn't seen this boy for the first time. His name was West and he had a sister named Nico. The fair-skinned and quite pale Kiryu had got to know the two when he had arrived in Crashtown. The two were something like orphans and his far bigger sister took care of herself and her little brother with all they could. And because they were at least as alone and Kiryu, they got along pretty well from the beginning.

And West laughed softly now when he saw that Kiryu had noticed him.

"You again?", Kiryu only asked the small boy who took this question as his chance to sit down besides Kiryu.

"You were remarkable, Kiryu-o-ni-chan!" Ni-chan ... Brother. West really seemed to like him. How naive of him. "As to expect from the legendary leader of Team Satisfaction!" "Stop it!", Kiryu hissed quietly and immediately regretted to have ever told him about Team Satisfaction. But back then, when he had gotten to know West he felt so good in telling someone about the experiences in his life, that he couldn't do differently, even if he was such a little boy. But then again, West probably shouldn't know about this at all. He was still innocent. He didn't know what it meant to have been betrayed by his friends or believing it at least. But this innocence of West seemed attractive in turn, too, because he still had dreams unlike Kiryu. But from all these dreams that a child like him can have, he had a big one which he immediately spoke out again.

"One day, I will become a strong duelist like you and then I will get my father back from the mines again!" West said all that with a voice full of confidence, full of joy and without any doubt.

"Give up finally! The ones who have been brought to the mountain never came back. They cannot come back..." "That is not true. If I would be as strong as you..." "You cannot do anything through a duel." "He?" West's face twisted into an expression of surprise when Kiryu said aloud what he thought: "I give you one advice. Take your sister and then free from this city, into another place. A place in which not everything is decided through a duel." "Ni-chan... and I shall simply forget our father here? Is it what you want to tell us?"

The ice blue-haired man said nothing to it but stared at West only from empty eyes out.

Didn't the boy understand it, then? What did he want to do if he practically already now was an orphan? If his mother was already dead for a long time and his father had disappeared to a place where the death has caught up with him practically already for certain, too? Only his sister stayed with him. They would only be able to life if they disappear from this place as soon as possible. And yet on the other side he understood that they would try to save their father. They were children, so they would cling to their belief like children, until an irrefutable proof has shown up to them, this proof perhaps being the dead corpse of their father. But until then, they would stay, what wants, comes.

West got up again and gave Kiryu a smile. "Ni-Chan, it is kind of you that you worry. I go back to Nico again. I wish you a good night!" and he waved to Kiryu, turned around, and got on the way back.

This sighed when he noticed that he was alone again.

He liked these two children but he thought that they shouldn't throw their life away. But then in turn they couldn't really flee if they had not the slightest money of their own or income,right? A flight is only possible when one has the necessary means at his disposal.

He bit himself on the lower lip when he thought that he couldn't help them either.

He really had no more use. Just the same as the sign on his cheek already symbolized. He was a criminal which only can leave destruction and whole only remained worth was death. This was the truth which was so hard for him to cope with.

"Barbara, do you really think that it was a good idea to let Aki go?" " I have given her a town card in which I have drawn in the most important localities. She won't get lost here already if she is intelligent enough." "And what if the Ramon family finds her?" "Haven't you mentioned that she has special abilities with which she can defend herself if necessary? Why don't you believe in her?"

Yusei stopped asking and looked at Barbara questioningly who held a cup of tea to her lips again when the two had made themself comfortable after Aki had gone through the door. She had insisted on going alone and Yusei allowed it because he knew how stubborn she was to just do it otherwise and secondly because he saw that she should have the chance to reach something by herself. Maybe she would have more success with that. Maybe Kiryu would listen to her.

Barbara noticed the worried facial expression to Yusei, then put the cup down and spoke with a steady voice: "But, if she should fail and can't persuade Kiryu, both of us should talk about an alternative plan anyway. Over the plan which only we both should know."

Yusei looked up astonishedly. He said "I hear" and Barbara took out now what she had provided for him.

Suddenly he felt an icy wind groing through the window of which he thought that he had closen it himself just a few minutes ago. Well, one could be so mistaken. Or was that a symptom for that he slowly became shifted? How many duels will he have to fight until he reached what he wanted?

How long did he want to actually torment himself? Why hasn't he chosen another way to die?

Perhaps because he was a coward. He couldn't do it himself, well knowing that it frightened him to have the thought do it itself. That it frightened him to die this time without being able to be alive ever again. Because he wouldn't be able to become a Dark Signer this time.

Why therefore here, why this way?

Why did he want to disappear, to work and to be exploited there, until his death, in the mountains?

Desperately he shook the head and drove himself with his fingers by his long hair, let them sink down and breathed out loudly on his bed.

Did he want to understand how she had felt when she had been used as well?

He shook the head again which began throbbing. He immediately regretted to have taken so much alcohol in the bar below if he knows exactly that he couldn't take much when being japanese himself. Well, this is what he gained from his stupidity. The best he could do now would be to sleep off the high until late next morning and if that wasn't enough, he would still have time until sundown to get back in shape because this was the only time of the day in which he was needed anyway.

He slipped off his long black coat which he carelessly threw besides himself on the bed before he, still in his clothes, closed the eyes in hope for a little sleep.

He could recognize a weak light in the darkness, that appeared in front of him, and nevertheless it wasn't enough to illuminate the roon because he could recognize nothing by the veil which seemed to cover his eyes. It was as if a thick fog had appeared which held back the full extend of the light.

And then he heard her, this gentle voice, directly besides him but he couldn't arrange what she exactly spoke to him. Everything that he knew was that he knew this voice and that he hadn't heard any more for such a long time.

He finally remarked that the source of this voice was whole near him. He only could extend his hand and then...

And something warm touched him.

Kiryu felt by his tiredness and through the headaches that he was no longer alone in the room, that somebody was here. No, even more than that - whoever was here with him now held him close to his body and prowled almost curiously through his long hair.

Was this Ramon, who was tempted to try something similiar like this every now and then?

He wanted to push the person away but he didn't find strength in his arms which felt numb all at once. Instead he closed his eyes and felt the scent of the person which reminded him of roses.

Kiryu suddenly tore up the eyes and looked at the person who was near him that way. And since she noticed that he looked or wanted to look at her, she solved the embrace now to give him the room so that he would be able to look at her.

Kiryu recognized the contours of a woman in the darkness of his room. No, not any woman. Two strands of hair which hung down on the two sides of her face, the eyes watching into his and the lips which curled up into an almost sarcastic smile was a sight which he already knew by heart.

It was Aki Izayoi which was here with him.

"A-aki ?", the fair-haired man who stared at her with shocked and torn apart eyes because he couldn't believe that she also was here. Didn't it suffice that Yusei was here? Why also she?

"What are you doing here?" , he asked her after he had gotten old of himself after the first shock and Aki onl gave him a smile before her look got colder. "I am here because I want to know what you are doing here. Why haven't you returned to Japan if you knew already that I have been waiting there for you?" Her voice sounded hurt, yet poisonous, but this concerned him little for the moment. "That is of no interest for you", he gave back tiredly when he massaged himself with his hand over his forehead and sighed resigned because he knew that she would never be content with such a feeble answer. But inside he knew exactly what he was afraid of, of the fear of the reason why she was really here.

Aki smiled gently when she saw Kiryu in front of herself like this. So ... fragile. So differently, but then again not. He had changed externally strongly by having his hair let grow so long. She had not had the slightest idea before that they could grow so fast. Why hadn't she noticed it before? If his hair could gain such a length within half a year, then he ought to have cut them on regular basis already before, right?

Kiryu did nothing but only resting his hand on his forehead until Aki crawled closer to him on the bed. , extending her hand to wound some of his ice blue hair around her finger and to touch them with her lips before they slided down her again from her lips and the finger.

For some seconds she said nothing before she still further approached him, extending a hand and gliding it under his chin to raise his face so that their looks could meet. Kiryu had slipped down his hand from his forehead and looked into Aki's eyes correctly for the first time when she did this.

Just why was she here?

Why couldn't she leave him alone?

He felt like his heart started to beat faster when he looked into the eyes into which he hadn't looked for such a long time now but then he noticed how she lowered her head until her lips touched his.

At first it was only an innocent kiss before she found her way into his mouth because she didn't encounter any resistance. It was so easy if he did nothing against this and yet if was so newly and unusual. She had never seen him so passively yet in all the time in which she knew him.

And he had simply granted it; he didn't hit out or tried to avoid it.

It felt good to feel him again but she knew that without his own fire, his own resistance, it simply wasn't the same. His taste was, except for the flavour of alcohol, still the same and Aki tried to gain pleasure in this which didn't succeed. Instead it frustrated her that he did nothing. That he only sat there and put up with it, that he didn't even kissed her back. As if he had forgotten everything or replaced it.

Resigned she broke the kiss to take a deep breath and hung her head.

"You have drunk alcohol...", she noticed quietly before he answered her in a quiet whisper: "This happens..." "And you just have joined in drinking from group pressure?", Aki enquired, though without actual interest in the voice, " I have never regarded you as a follower, Kiryu.." "What are you doing here?", the blue-haired man asked, before Aki raised her head again to look him into the face. "I have answered you this question... I am here because I want to know why you are here. So..say, why are you here? Why haven't you gave a sign that you are still alive? During the first few weeks of your journey you at least sent some greeting cards before it completely stopped. And now I find you again in this desert..."

There was a deep silence again between the two, in which within Aki her frustration took her over slowly. She pinched her hands in the sheets to find a valve and admonish herself to the quiet but it didn't really want to work. "Speak with me! ", she finally yelled, "why have you left me alone ? Why you simply don't have reported any more ? Do I mean nothing to you at all any more?" Again no answer, not even another twitch in his eyes.

But it looked quite different in his inside. Why he asked again and again what she would have lost here? Not because he couldn't foresee because he knew what he probably has done to her with that that he simply has left her to find his death here. It wasn't exactly fair of him, and he still owed her an explanation and he knew that exactly. But if he would give her an explanation here he risked that they got him out of here. That she and Yusei fetch him again and hold back his self-destruction.

Couldn't she see this at all, then? Couldn't she see that she would be better without him?

And he felt an intense pain at his left cheek as Aki suddenly gave him a slap. The muffled pain tapped in his face when he lifted a hand to touch his left cheek which burned hot from the blow. And he stared at Aki out from empty eyes.

Why had she done this?

YOU IDIOT!", she yelled furiously, "YOU DAMN IDIOT! SO YOU WANT TO DIE HERE? I CAN HELP YOU WITH THAT IF YOU WANT!" "Psst, be quiet. You will wake the attention of the others." "I don't care about that at all! Answer me finally and stop staring at me with this empty look! I want to know what you have been doing here and how you have gotten the idea to join a family fight in which only you can lose in the end! Don't you know what happens if you lose a duel? That you are sent to the mines for work? That you could lose your life in there?" "I know about this risk, but I am fully willing to take it." Aki snatched for air after hearing this; her facial expressions turned desperated in view of having found her boyfriend in this state and she wondered whether all of this might really be her fault here. this heard after air as her; her features were desperately in view of this one like her her friend found now and she wondered whether all this was really her fault here. Was it really? Hadn't she watched him enough? Could she do that anyway, even if she had problems herself to cope with? Couldn't he be with her one last time, protect her, just take her into his arms? Just the way she had wished when he disappeared? Why everyone left her? First Divine, now Kiryu... if she would lose Yusei, then she would have nothing at all left ...

And she closed her eyes, buried her head in her hands and began to cry.

Kiryu watched her dumbly for a while. It wasn't the first time that he had seen her so. In the past, once, it had suddenly happened that she began to cry if she thought that she would never see Divine again. Sometimes a small detail sufficed which reminded her of him to trigger this. Was this the mourning which somebody felt if he had lost somebody else to the death? For whom was she crying now? For Divine or For him? Or was it approximately a form of self-pity? Couldn't she hold in her mourning any more because she was afraid of being completely alone in the world in the end?

If it was like that, then it was exactly the same that he also felt - the fear of being alone on this world. Fear of his own death. Fear of the going by of his existence even if he knew that he was unnecessary and was of no use to this world any more.

But was that really like that? Did she really need him if she still had Yusei anyway?

"Aki", he whispered as he extended his arms to press her against him.

The girl immediately put her arms around him, pressed her head against his chest and continued on crying there. Kiryu allowed this, not knowing why he had done this, and why she woke this feeling within him to want to comfort her. She had something like being in need for protection when being like this. Was that how a man felt when he wanted to protect a woman? Was that wanted of nature?

And he remembered how it had happened sometimes that they both just held each other in their arms, saying nothing because this gesture was already enough because it showed that they thought alike. Crazy how he and Aki seemed to be similar. But how much of that was still left now? He was actually sure that the new experiences here had turned him into another person.

The soft whisper of Aki's woke him from his thoughts. "Kiryu ... why do you do all this? Why ... do you want to die ...?" He hesitated for a moment, carressed her hair, closed his eyes and thought about his words carefully before he said them. He couldn't deny now that she should know at least a litte bit more about his motives now since she was here. He himself had planned actually to avoid this but now he couldn't do this no more.

"Aki ... you remember when we both have come to the end that this world is nothing good?" "Hm?" Aki looked up and looked in Kiryu's deadly serious eyes. He inferred with an absent voice "and, if this world brings nothing more, then why shall one spend still more time on her?".The crimson haired girl, however, couldn't believe at all what she heard there. "So you really do all of this to die?" she produced arduously, " it is completely no matter to you what happens to me? You want to really leave me alone?" He didn't answer when he felt that he had perhaps already said too much. But it was too late and what had already belonged to Aki could not be made undone. He didn't say anything more to not load her with his plans further. Best of all he would have liked to say that she would still have Yusei anyway if he himself wasn't around and that Yusei would be her support.

She tore herself away from him and sparkled badly on him. And as if she had guessed his thoughts, she said: "You certainly think that I will have Yusei after all if I lose you, right? But you have forgotten something. You may have forgotten me or my love for you but you still cannot forget that we both are here to save you and that Yusei will risk everything to do this. You know him. He does everything for the ones whom he loves. He always comes to you even if you push him away because he sees that you have a problem. He has done this also with me. He has come when I had despaired. He has come when I wanted to destroy myself the way you are intending to do now"

Kiryu opened his mouth astonished, as if he would want to say something before he looked aside as if to ignore Aki, knowing that she was right.

"One just cannot escape from you, that's true...", he admitted in his monotonous voice, "I understand why Yusei is here, but not why you are." His look went back to Aki curiously and stuck to her while she was replying him. "Just why...?" "Because I could not forget you...", she admitted shyly and briefly avoided his look at her, "I wanted to have you with me, but you had gone, wanted to go. When you have told me that you want to see the world, I didn't want to be an obstacle for you and thus, I let you go because I believed that I would see you again. I thought that I would see you again, but then you disappeared for six months... and you even seemed to have planned to die here..." Her voice got more serious almost dangerous. "But I won't simply let you do this! THIS IS why I am here!" "And you think you will succeed?", he asked queitly, "what if you won't? What if I would ask you from deep of my heart to forget me and all that we had?" "Evene that is not possible for me because you see.. I couldn't do this even after you were gone. How can you even think that I could do this NOW, now that I worry about you even more? I am very unforgiving and you know this also quite exactly ." Kiryu only nodded. "And you know that I simply would take you with myself if necessary also even if you fight against it?" "And I would defend myself indeed. Aki ... don't you see that we won't get any further with this?" "I see that differently...", she whispered when she repeled of the bed, raised her left arm into the air, wanted to activate her DuelDisk - and stopped briefly when she saw that he still wouldn't react like she expected from him.

He only looked at her and showed a weak smile.

"Especially you...", he whispered, "..do not undertand. The real reason why I am here. You don't understand, even though you should, especially you. Not someone like Yusei, who always does good things. But you who is capable of hurting other people and not only of saving them."

The crimson hairred girl looked at him confused. What did he talk about? Why did he say all this? Why did he make everything so complicated?

"Stop! Stop, stop, stop ! Why do you do all of this? Why don't you understand that we don't want you to hurt yourself! Why do you want this anyway? Is this a stupid self imposed punishment on yourself? Don't you see that you are hurting us with that as well?"

The ice-blue-haired man trembled at these words of her, and one could see that in his eyes as they narrowed.

So, he hurt them even more with this than he did before? Could he never stop with hurting others? And now especially Aki, because he couldn't come with her. Even if she was right, it still wouldn't change the fact that he had to do something to break out of this devil's circle - so that he could never hurt anyone ever again.

"Please, go now", he demanded coldly " I don't want to see you here any more." "I will do the devil!", it only came back from her poisonously and this time she really activated her dueldisc whilst underlining her actions with the shallow sounds of her words: "Let's duel about this. You know what a duel with me means."

But just then a voice nearby the door interrupted her in her actions. "Kiryu-sensei, are you in there?" Aki was frightened when she heard this and lowered her arm.

"You are lucky...", she only said quietly and looked at him sadly before she rose on the window ledge while going away. Kiryu snatched for air as he realized that she intended to jump out of the open window. Had she forgotten already that they were some metres over the ground here and that she could hurt herself seriously if she did that?

"Don't do this, Aki!", he whispered frantically but she looked at him over the shoulder and said quietly but certainly: "I have warned you all the same and just like you, I won't listen to the things said to me." She raised herself on the open window ledge, moved a card from her deck, and let it fall on her activated DuelDisk, letting herself fall through the window without hesitating only once.

"Aki!". Kiryu cried after her and rushed to the window, only to see retired tendrils on the ground and a young woman running away. He breathed in deeply. Obviously she had used her abilities as a Psychic Duelist with which she could let monsters get real to escape fast and to do that under primarily safe circumstances. But her powers worked only with the duel cards and also only if she could use a DuelDisk.

The ice blue haired man breathed in deeply again. Has it been so long already since he had last seen her that he had already forgotten how special and unusual she was?

"Kiryu-sensei?", it came from the door questioningly, and Kiryu looked up. He had already almost forgotten the reason why Aki had disappeared as fast as she did. He on the one hand was gratefully for this interruption but on the other hand ... Lost in thought he painted himself over the lips briefly before opening the door and a man with dark hair came in. It was Ramon.

"Kiryu-sensei, what is the matter here? I have heard a cry, is everything alright with you?" "Yes, it is nothing. I only had a dream, that's all." "Don't overstrain yourself. You are the ace of the group as you know. You must spare your strengths." "Rest assured that I do that. But what are you doing here?" Imperceptibly Ramon winced at this question slightly as if he had been caught doing something forbidden. "W-well, I-I only wanted to see that everything is alright with you, nothing more." "Hm, you have seen that already. Now please leave me alone now." "G-good." Somewhat disappointed Ramond turned his back on Kiryu to go back. When the door fell into the lock, he thoughtfully whispered the one name that he had heard Kiryu cry out before entering the room. "Aki... who the heck shall that be?"


	5. Joining the Mafia

**Chapter 4: Joining the Mafia **

He could already see the estate of the Marco family in the darkness. The light was still on, and the noises which could be heard out of the building allowed the end that his residents were still active and still didn't sleep for a long time. One could hear bawling, which lead to the suggestion that some kind of drinking session was just taking place in there. And this was actually more than an ideal situation for Yusei Fudo who was standing a little apart in the desert edge and watched the whole situation. Why was he here? Well, when he intended to fulfill Barbara's plan, then he had to dare to come here once.

He wasn't afraid, didn't know fear if it was all about to save his friends. The only thing that caused him discomfort was that Barbara had insisted for Yusei to start before Aki even came back from her own independant mission. That way, Yusei couldn't know if Aki had succeeded in reaching out to Kiryu or not. If yes, then what he himself is trying to do there now would be of no more importance any more. But something in his feelings told him that it wasn't sucessful,just like Aki had probably imagined it. As Yusei knew the two and especially the whole extent of their stubbornness, it for sure hadn't workes out smoothly; he knew that because of their similiarity, both often have clashed with each other. And if Kiryu hadn't suddenly changed completely, just like Yusei wished he hadn't, then the result of Aki's try was more than clear.

But since what Yusei Fudo would be doing now was intendes to be an alternative plan if the first one failed... it spurred him on to do it make nothing wrong. Because it was bad enough that a friend was in danger and he didn't want to pull yet another friend into this. Not she.

While he was listening to the event from the distance, the words of Barbara came into his mind. The reason why he had to run through it alone and why Aki was allowed to know nothing about all of this.

"If she knew, how she would react?", the dark-haired woman had asked him to which he only replied that she probably would react very impulsive. "I would say all the more that you shouldn't tell her anything about it. She is a duelist herself, isn't she? This is yet another reason why she shouldn't know. Because they captivate people of whom they know that they can duel. They don't take the sex into consideration, Yusei. They would try to take her to the mines all the same. If you so wish to protect her, then don't tell her anything about this. Make her stay out of this all."

Wouldn't it have been better if she had stayed in Neo Domino? But no, he had the feeling that he didn't have the right to make any regulations to Aki. Especially not when he saw that she was here out of the same reason as he was. To save someone who was important to her. At the same time it also seemed to be a proof to herself, that she had learned to protect someone she held dear - an enormous lesson for someone who only knew pain, destruction and loss. So, she could prove herself now. Perhaps this was the reason why she was so keen on doing something alone. Because she wanted to see how far she could get, how much she really has changed.

And how much has he changed, Yusei Fudo?

"DAMN IT ALL!", he only yelled out loud when he reached out for the next bottle of beer and emptied it with large gulps. Perplexed his guests and companions looked at him doing that, and when the bottle was finally empty, he wiped his mouth at his elbow. He only murmured: "How dare he... to humiliate me so much.. this bastard Ramon..."

When their leader Marco suddenly behaved so, the atmosphere almost got icy in the garden. No-one really knew that to do now, if it would be better to leave him alone, or to point out to him that laying off his high would be a far more better idea. Finally, a young man of the group grasped himself a heart and approached Marco slowly, poking him into the shoulder lightly. "Boss, please don't be so mad...", he said hesitantly, but this didn't protect him from the furious reaction of his boss, because he immediately took his emtpy bottle and drew it over the head of the man who immediately went to the ground.

Some friends assailed him to help him but when Marco extended his arms and shouted quite loudly that everyone got on his nerves without exception these also winced and decided also to pull the injured out of the proximity of Marco, to his and their own safety. Al of them knew that over 50 wins of Kiryu Kyosuke there was no way one could joke with Marco about it, who could rightly feel humiliated after all of these, because he had lost great shares in the mines to Ramon, just as well as innumerable duelists who should have been quite good after his assessment. But he was disappointed again and again. Had his assessment gift already suffered due to all the losses so much that he simply could find no-one who was good enough to beat this Kiryu? How could it be, then, that a guy as inconspicuous as Kiryu which looked half dead, and also behaved like that, could win constantly like this? Or was all this only charade? No, he was far too effective for this for his taste.

Marco sighed upsetly, looked round briefly. At least no-one was around him any more, who wanted to irritate him and the few that had remained near him at least held a certain distance to him.

His look fell on the empty bottle in his hands and he gritted his teeth with anger. If only his older brother would be here! If Lotten wouldn't be on this mission to exercise his duel abilities! If he had done this here instead, then Marco would have had not problem whatsoever with this rabble here! And most of all, Kiryu would not be a real enemy for Lotten - it would be a thing of a few minutes and he and all problems that this fair-skined man had caused would be snow of yesterday!

Angry about the fact that Lotten was missing who was to Marco like the ultimate solution for his prblem, he smashed the bottle with full force on the paving which also decorated the ways in the garden of this house, where it shattered into thousands of fragments.

Ah, to the devil with all of this!

Something woke him out of his rage suddenly.

"Hey!", a voice unknown to him said, in a tone of voice, so quiet and taken hold as he had seldomly heard in his life. When Marco looked up, he saw a young man unknown to him with a black thorn hairstyle and blue eyes coming towards him from the entrance area of the house. He wore a brown poncho on him with a funny and unknown to him sample, otherwise, however, this person looked quite harmless. If the yellow markingon his cheek weren't there, he wouldn't have thought of him as being someone dangerous, but since Kiryu he could as well be rather careful with his assessments. The man unknown to Marco was immediately recognized, however, by edge of the event of three of his companions.

"One Second!", one of them shouted, "this is the one..." "The one from back then!", his buddy who stood besides him and the one nodded eagerly at this.

Yusei's look fell on the three and he also recognized them. It were the same men who had lain in wait for him and Aki when they had entered Crashtown for the first time on the search for Barbara. At that time they wanted to persuade Aki to a date and if it were necessary to do this by forcing her to a duel. If Barbara hadn't stepped in, then it would have led to a duel and so she had saved them from a lot of problems.

Problems which obviously wouldn't pull past at Yusei without trace this time. Because there was no return now, especially now that he had the attention of everyone around them. But he was a natural prodigy in using even difficult events to his advantage - an ability which was an urgency if one lives in Satellite and where someone never could be wasteful. More still: One had to learn how one could win something useful back from the garbage of others again.

In the core it was the same principle here as well. He only had to spur them on a little and the plan already would proceed almost smoothly.

Therefore he said with a monotonous and quiet voice: "You will ...hire me."

The three men immediately ran off and lined up opposite him, with Marco who looked at them astonished in the background when one of them yelled almost joyfully: "This is what I had been waiting for! We will be your opponents!"

It was almost as simple as he had imagined it to be. Obviously these people still harbored a grudge against Yusei because, at that time, he simply hasn't allowed that they could go out with Aki.

Marco however laughed inwardly when he saw the situation in front of him, before he broke out in a loud laughter. The situation promised to be very interesting. All three wanted to duel this person all at once? well, how long will this guy stand this? With three opponents coming at him at once, he won't be able to hold out very long. But who knew this definitely, maybe he had something up his sleeve still.

Therefore Marco said: "For all I...ah, okay, I will hire you. But only if I like you. But if I don't like you...", and he closed the last part of the sentence with a furious facial expression, "then you won't be able to leave this place here safely any more..." Yusei only nodded as a sign that he had understood and replied: "Good. Let's start and finally begin... but, all of you shall fight at once." Suddenly his opponents gasped for air in astonishment, but nevertheless they followed his mad suggestion because these had to lose nothing anyway apart from perhaps time.

Synchronously they pulled out their DuelDiscs, activated it and drew 5 cards out of their decks, their hand cards. Yusei did the same, in thoughts thankful to Barbara for being able to get this DuelDisc which looked exactly like the ones that are currently in use in this area.

With a loudly shouted "Duel!" they started the game.

"I start first", Yusei suggested and no one contradicted him therefore her drew another card of his deck while saying "My turn, Draw!"

A quick look at his card in his far extended hand was enough and Yusei knew what to do. "I summon the tuner-monster, Change Synchron in open defense mode! The summoned monster looked like a small robot. "I set a card face-down and end my turn!" "My turn!", the thinnest of the men began and now drew a card of his deck himself. "I summon Hunter of Peace in attack mode (ATK1600). The rules of Battle Royal forbid the attack of all participants on their first turn, therefore I end my turn now." He passed on to his buddy with a view of his right side, the one who was the more muscular of the troop and now had an enormous biceps. "My turn!", he shouted and repeated exactly the same turn that his friend before him had done. He even summoned the very same mosnter, which both look a little bit like scarecrows with a shotgun in their hands.

But immediately after the second "Hunter of Peace" was summoned, the first monster on the field raised his weapon and aimed at Yusei, while its master shouted a loud "Shooting!". A red lightflash hit Yusei and let his livepoints drop by 800 points.

"What?", the black-haired said, but his opponent explained it to him: "As long a "Hunter of Peace" is open in attack position and another same monster is summoned, the opponent is dealt with a damage of 800 points." "I end my turn", the rule of the second monster simply stated and passed on to the last one of the buddies now. This grinned dirtily, and he also now exactly repeated the procession of his two predecessors.

"I call mine "Hunter of Peace" now", he said quietly and enjoyingly, obviously really convinced of what he was doing there.

When the third monster of the same type appeared on the field, Yusei knew what consequences would follow. Again, a loud "Shooting!" followed, this time synchronouly in two different voices when the two previous "Hunter of Peace" put their effect into action and hit Yusei heavily again this time. His life points dropped down to 1600 points.

Marco painted over his chind thoughtfully, and couldn't hold back a grin. The situation looked hopeless for the young man, who obviosuly couldn't do as much as he promised he would. Well, so or so, at least Marco would have his fun out of thistoday.

"I end my turn!"

Now it was Yusei's turn again but none of his opponents could keep back a right grin. Too much the coming victory was ahead of the, and that the decks of their partners were built up exactly the way so that they could work perfectly together with the deck of the other, so that there was no doubt that they would have all the same on their hands and able to follow their strategy without problems, this strategy being to burnd away the life points of their opponent through effect damage. There they all said one after the other: "There are..." "..more than..." "enough bullets left."

But this concernec Yusei only little. When he stood up after the last attack and knocked the dust out of his poncho with a casual movement Marco wasn't badly astonished because he knew that no-one behaved so who had not planned a counterattack already. This young man had to have a plan. But no, it couldn't be that he still had a chance to win, right?

"It is my turn! Draw!", Yusei called, without hesitating, looking straight ahead at his opponents. In thought he, however, roamed to quite somewhere else.

He saw himself together with Barbara who just explained her plan to him when Aki wasn't here. They were together in her flower store and Yusei sat at the table, bent above a glass with milk when Barbara looked up at him, lostlin thought. "To save Kiryu we must defeat him", she finally had said and the blue eyes of Yusei stretched himself as he heard this. "Does that mean that I am supposed to challenge him to a fight?", it came out of his mouth doubtingly and Barbara only nodded. "You must understand ... I know that it is a rather risky plan but unfortunately, we have nothing better because of course Ramon won't let the ace of his group out of his eyes. We therefore will have our only chance to rescue Kiryu once he is released from the Ramon group. But this will only happen if he loses a duel, and is then dismissed from the group because he has gotten uesless to them. And then this will be your chance to save your friend. Before he is taken to the mines, we will step in and then make a flight from the town possible for you. You only must provide, that you can duel with Kiryu." "And I can do this best by joining Marco's group, right?" "Yes."

The memory deserted him, became a bright white before he opened the eyes again and announced what he intended to do for this turn. "By dismissing a monster on my hand into the graveyards, I can special summon the Tuner-Monster "Quick Synchron" He put Bolt Hedgehog into the graveyard, and instead "Quick Synchron" appeared on the field a monster which was fitting the "Western Theme" more than well with its looks; withb its hat, and the poncho that is also had on. "And because a Tuner Monster is on the filed now, I activate the effect of Bolt Hedgehog! Now I can special summong him back on the field out of the graveyard! Now, I tune my level two Bolt Hedgehog with my Level five "Quick Synchron"! Synchro Summon, Nitro Warrioir (ATK2800). Now, I am summoning Gauntlet Warrior" (ATK 100)! Now, I am tuning again, but this time I tune Gauntlet Warrior with my Change Synchron! Synchro Summon, Arm's Aid! (ATK 1800)"

Now Yusei had two monsters on the field, which he only could get out by a long chains of summoning. His strategy just didn't seem to be very fruitful to Marco if one thought about how much he had to give up for that, but...

"Now that "Change Synchron" is in the graveyard, his effect activates which forces the "Hunter of Peace" of my opponent into a Defense position." When Yusei ended his sentence, he pointed to the man who attacked him the last. "Now I activate the effect of Arm's Aid! By equipping Nitro Warrior with this card, he gets an increase of 1000 attack points!"

The slimmest of the three men mumbled perplexed: "An attack force of 3800!"

"But this isn't all yet!", Yusei added, "I activate the magic card "Junk Attack" from my hand now. I also equip "Nitro Warrior" with that. And because I have activated a magic card in this train, the attack points increase for a fight by further 1000!"

With that, "Nitro Warrior" now had an attack power of over 4800. Noboy knew what it would bring for Yusei to have this monster if he wanted to win, because with just one monster he would be only able to win against one of the three man at a time. All the more surprised they were when Yusei claimed he could beat them all in one turn. Their faces twisted to faces of cold horror and that even more when he wanted to realize his plan. ",Nitro Warrior! Dynamite Knuckle!"

Yusei's monster changed into a fighting position bevor he jumped up to attack the Hunter of Peace of the thin man. Of course he could do nothing much against it, and his life points dropped down to zero. But then Nitro Warrior also turned round to the "Hunter of Peace" which had previously been forced into a defense positio, also attacking this. When his lifepoints also dropped down to zero, he shputed "How could this be?" Of course Yusei wasn't lost for a short explanation.

"If "Nitro Warrior" destroys a monster, then it can switch another monster which is in defense mode into attack postion and attack this monster once more. Now, the effect of Arm's Aid activates, which can deal damage in height of the attack points of the attacked monster if Arm's Aid is equipped with a monster while destroying an opponent's monster. In addition, the opponent gets further damaged by the card "Junk Attack", and that by half of the attack points of the destroyed monster."

Now only one of three opponents was left now. This one moved back a step frightened, because he also already expected to suffer defeat now that both of his pals have been defeated as well.

"Trap Cards, Open! Synchro Overlimit!" A Synchro monster which has destroyed an opponent's monster in this turn can attack once more!"

"Impossible!", it slipped out of Marco, and he wanted to see how the last attack hit the last of the three opponents. He fell to the ground, when his lifepoints dropped to zero as well, and he had not a chance to win this duel just by effect-dealt damage, it seems. Astonished, Marco opened his mouth, because he didn't know at first what to say to that. Because this weak-seeming guy has managed to finish off three of his men without twitching with the eyelash! The way in which he fought was that which he had been looking out for so long to finally win against this Kiryu! He just had to have this guy in his group!

"To just win against three people at once in one turn... One Turn, three Kill... this guy is just awesome!", he shouted out, rubbing his hands briefly, before running over to Yusei to make him an offer. When standing in front of Yusei he rubbed his hands eagerly once again. "You for sure would be capable of winning against Kiryu..." "But I am seldom..." Yusei replied in a quiet intonation and a slight smile followed this "..I will cost a high price.."

And he had the feeling that he was indeed rare. The only one person of his kind. There would never be another Yusei, as much as a second Aki or a second Kiryu. Thus, he had to fight for them all.

She put her long black gloves a little bit higher when she was on her way back to Barbara's flowershop, but she thought that she might have gotten lost already, now that she had also lost the piece of paper which was the map. Barbara had warned her that the night in the desert might be very cold, had even offered her a poncho, what she had rejected though. "It won't be THIS cold, really", she answered and Barbara looked at her perplexed, then laughed. "Believe me, you will for sure regret this. Or do you think that thinking of your boyfriend alone will keep you warm enough?" No, she hadn't imagined this either. She had hoped far more that it would work out. That he would be here with her now, perhaps hand in hand. That he would have stopped blaming himself and accepting his past. She longed for his long hair and his presence when she put the arms around herself and stopped because she was cold.

She tried to get used to the darkness of her surroundings to be able to recognize the way back so a little better. The place at which Ramon's group stayed usually had actually been a little away from Crashtown; nevertheless Aki was actually confident that she could find her way back without any problem. But she hadn't expected that her meeting with Kiryu would stirr her up so much that she wouldn't actually want to go unless she had reached something.

She felt miserably, so as if somebody had you poured something hot into her stomach. Or something alive, snakes.

Why only could she do nothing at all? It was the first time that she felt so. That she wanted to protect something that was important for her!

No, she lied to herself. It wasn't the very first time. Because the first that she had felt like that was when Yusei had been abducted by this strange man who had given everything to just recruit him for his own team for the World Championship Grand Prix. Back then, Yusei had found himself to be in a track which headed without a driver to an unknown aim. Aki only had been able to find him with her sign, the claw of the Crimson Dragon. Stubborn as she was, she had tried with the help of "Rose Tentacles" to give Yusei an opportunity to escape the truck with her; she even jumped at the driving truck without hesitation, and almost would have slipped if Yusei wouldn't have saved her at the last moment with a safe handle.

Oh yes, she had made it at that time, to find and to save what was important to her. It hadn't worked smoothly, but it was at least one small success which has given her back her courage. So much, that she even obtained even the D-Wheel driver's license in the end because she hoped to find her heart in the winds. But also because she also hoped to understand Yusei. Yusei which has done so much for her, still does so much for her. She understood exactly what it was for a sacrifice of him to require to let her go alone because she knew and felt that Yusei wanted to know her into safety. But it confused her also so much. What did she actually feel for Yusei deep down in herself? What did he actually feel for her? Why had she worried so much when suddenly was lost? Why did she long to understand how Yusei thought and felt?

She thought back to the time at which they both had gone skating so that Aki could learn how one remains in the balance. She couldn't last at all first and supported herself to Yusei so that she doesn't fall down completely. He then held her tight at the arms and had given her a smile with this gentle look of his deep blue eyes. And this warm feeling which has spread out in her whole body was suddenly there. She had herself as if she would fly when they both, hand in hand on their rollerskates turned their rounds through the hall.

She started with a hand at her lips when she felt how far she had gone with her thoughts. At that time ... this had been at the time in which Kiryu had left her... back then she had felt so close with Yusei. It had been so new to recognize that...

yeah, what? That she... was in love with Yusei?

She squinted her eyes. How could she? What was with Kiryu? Was what she had with Kiryu nothing worth?

He was so different from Yusei. So more similar to her. But he lacked the patience and the quiet like Yusei had. And he also had nevertheless had a certain ease, the ability to take some things also loosely. He had always joked so much when the two were still together. They went along hand in hand at the promenade and have stopped to enjoy the view of the sea as her look fell on him. As his ice blue shoulder-length hair blew in the wind and she had seen his golden eyes shining in the sunlight, a strange feeling had seized her. He had looked like an angel with his pale skin even if she knew that sin stuck to him. But also he had been there for her in her darkest hours in which she herself was "dead".

And if she really didn't care about him, because she had Yusei now ... she then wouldn't be here now. She then wouldn't have come along now to try to save him also. Had Kiryu suspected already that there might be something between her and Yusei which has developed in his absence?

She saw the picture of Kiryu in front of her inner eye which stared at her in this slight but nevertheless forced smile out of the darkness from his bed. Has he really suspected all this?

It was as if he would have wanted to say with that: "Yusei shall be for you what I could never be." And no, he even had said it aloud, not only with his gesture.

Had he said goodbye so much to her because he really wanted to die? Was this the reason why she hadn't been able to move him for going?

And she still couldn't understand something that he had said to her shortly before she had to go: "Especially you should understand me, someone who not only can save, but also destroy."

But she didn't understand. She didn't understand him for the very first time at all. The one of whom she thought that they were closer than anyone else simply because they were so similiar to one another.

And her heart longed to understand not only Yusei but also him. Reaching not only Yusei but also Kiryu by the hot or cold wind of the desert.

While she was so very lost in thought she didn't have noticed at all that her feet had carried her a small bit further. When she looked up, she saw that she was on a hill of which it seemed to go straight ahead into the desert itself. Were there in the distance in the dark the mines of which everyone around here was so afraid of?

She looked up when she remarked that she was no longer alone. When she looked at behind, her hand on her deck and her DuelDisk, she noticed the silhouette of a child as well as the face which was lit up in the poor light of a lamp. She recognized the fine lines of a girl.

"Have you gotten lost? Shall I help you?", she asked Aki in a shy voice.


End file.
